Monument to Solidarity trade union unveiled in Warsaw

The monument honouring the Solidarity trade union was unveiled on Friday. The memorial has been raised at the crossing of Świętokrzyska and Kopernika streets in downtown Warsaw.

The monument shows a huge logo of Solidarity breaking through fragments of the Berlin Wall. The creator of the trade union's logo, Jerzy Janiszewski, was among the monument's designers. The idea to raise the memorial was put forward by the Ronald Reagan Foundation.

"Historically, we remember Solidarity as a huge movement of restoration. But we also think about solidarity in these extremely difficult times. It's likely that without this solidarity we wouldn't be able to deal with the pandemic, to stay together in such difficult times, to show empathy and help each other" - Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski said at the unveiling ceremony.

"We also think about solidarity with our closest neighbours, remembering the heritage of the Solidarity movement and the message it had sent out to world at the time" - he added.

He also mentioned the current situation in Belarus. "We hope that changes will also happen behind our eastern border. Those who have the courage to fight for freedom and democracy, openly critical of regimes, not afraid of facing repressions, they deserve solidarity. That's why we're here today, to show our solidarity" - Trzaskowski said.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya took the floor after the mayor. "Dear friends, I'd like to send you my sincerest wishes on the day of unveiling of this monument, which is a proof of Polish people's fight, and that this fight could be won. For Belarus, the history of Poland's Solidarity movement is especially close and important" - said the leader of Belarusian opposition.

"Solidarity has given the Belarusian people inspiration and hope, both in the times of the Soviet Union and now, when Belarusians fight against the new dictatorship. But never before in the history of Belarus, had the Belarusian people remembered Solidarity like they have within the last year, when the whole nation said a firm 'no' to the dictator" - Tsikhanouska said.

On June 4, 1989 Poles went voting in order to, as it later turned out, show their disapproval of the ruling regime. The communist party, which held the country in a tight grip since the WWII, was shaken to the core and few months later it ceased to exist. Even though the communists hoped that June election - a fruit born of the Round Table Talks - would prolong its existence, the opposite happened.

After the electoral turmoil, Solidarity came to power, however not yet full. Historians consider the June 4 election as one of the key factors which led to the fall of communism and permanent democratic transformation in Poland and the whole Central and Eastern Europe.